diff --git a/src/cli/observe.ts b/src/cli/observe.ts
index 58b9973..abbf435 100644
--- a/src/cli/observe.ts
+++ b/src/cli/observe.ts
@@ -115,14 +115,14 @@ async function connectHost(
     ssh.disconnect();
     const message = cause instanceof Error ? cause.message : String(cause);
     return {
-      observer: unreachableObserver(host.name, `Failed to connect: ${message}`),
+      observer: unreachableObserver(host.name, `Failed to connect: ${message}`, host.apps),
       apps: host.apps,
       accessoryNames: host.accessoryNames,
     };
   }
 }
 
-function unreachableObserver(serverName: string, message: string): ObserveTarget['observer'] {
+function unreachableObserver(serverName: string, message: string, planned: ShipnodeApp[]): ObserveTarget['observer'] {
   return {
     serverName,
     async collect(): Promise<ServerSnapshot> {
@@ -133,6 +133,7 @@ function unreachableObserver(serverName: string, message: string): ObserveTarget
         deployLock: null,
         apps: [],
         error: message,
+        plannedApps: planned.map((app) => ({ app: app.name, appType: app.appType })),
       };
     },
   };
diff --git a/src/domain/observe/collector.ts b/src/domain/observe/collector.ts
index eef24ed..7484973 100644
--- a/src/domain/observe/collector.ts
+++ b/src/domain/observe/collector.ts
@@ -59,12 +59,12 @@ export class MetricsCollector {
       // An unreachable host is a state the fleet view has to render, not an
       // exception to unwind — the same stance `rollFleet` takes on a replica
       // that fails mid-roll.
-      return this.unreachable(timestamp, cause instanceof Error ? cause.message : String(cause));
+      return this.unreachable(timestamp, cause instanceof Error ? cause.message : String(cause), request.apps);
     }
 
     const sections = splitSections(stdout);
     if (sections.size === 0) {
-      return this.unreachable(timestamp, 'Observe poll returned no data');
+      return this.unreachable(timestamp, 'Observe poll returned no data', request.apps);
     }
 
     const accessoriesSection = sections.get('accessories');
@@ -78,7 +78,7 @@ export class MetricsCollector {
     };
   }
 
-  private unreachable(timestamp: string, error: string): ServerSnapshot {
+  private unreachable(timestamp: string, error: string, planned: ShipnodeApp[]): ServerSnapshot {
     return {
       server: this.server,
       timestamp,
@@ -86,6 +86,7 @@ export class MetricsCollector {
       deployLock: null,
       apps: [],
       error,
+      plannedApps: planned.map((app) => ({ app: app.name, appType: app.appType })),
     };
   }
 }
diff --git a/src/domain/observe/pivot.ts b/src/domain/observe/pivot.ts
index a13ba7a..b92e464 100644
--- a/src/domain/observe/pivot.ts
+++ b/src/domain/observe/pivot.ts
@@ -26,11 +26,32 @@ export function pivotByApp(snapshots: ServerSnapshot[]): FleetView[] {
     }
   }
 
-  // A server whose poll failed reports no apps at all, so it cannot say which
-  // apps it was meant to be running. It is attributed to every app another
-  // replica proves exists — enough to stop a partial observation from reading
-  // as a converged fleet, without inventing apps for a host we never reached.
-  const unreachable = snapshots.flatMap((server) => (server.error === undefined ? [] : [server.server]));
+  // A server whose poll failed reports no apps at all. When the caller recorded
+  // which apps it was planned to run, the failure is blamed on exactly those
+  // apps — and an app whose every server failed still gets a view, so it cannot
+  // vanish. Without that record (an older snapshot shape) the server is blamed
+  // on every app another replica proves exists: enough to stop a partial
+  // observation from reading as a converged fleet, without inventing apps.
+  const unreachableByApp = new Map<string, string[]>();
+  const plannedType = new Map<string, FleetView['appType']>();
+  const unattributed: string[] = [];
+  for (const server of snapshots) {
+    if (server.error === undefined) continue;
+    if (server.plannedApps === undefined) {
+      unattributed.push(server.server);
+      continue;
+    }
+    for (const planned of server.plannedApps) {
+      const servers = unreachableByApp.get(planned.app);
+      if (servers === undefined) unreachableByApp.set(planned.app, [server.server]);
+      else servers.push(server.server);
+      plannedType.set(planned.app, planned.appType);
+      if (!byApp.has(planned.app)) {
+        byApp.set(planned.app, []);
+        order.push(planned.app);
+      }
+    }
+  }
 
   return order.map((appName) => {
     const replicas = byApp.get(appName) ?? [];
@@ -41,10 +62,10 @@ export function pivotByApp(snapshots: ServerSnapshot[]): FleetView[] {
 
     return {
       app: appName,
-      appType: replicas[0]?.snapshot.appType ?? 'backend',
+      appType: replicas[0]?.snapshot.appType ?? plannedType.get(appName) ?? 'backend',
       replicas,
       convergence: assessConvergence(observations),
-      unreachable,
+      unreachable: [...(unreachableByApp.get(appName) ?? []), ...(replicas.length > 0 ? unattributed : [])],
     };
   });
 }
diff --git a/src/domain/observe/snapshot.ts b/src/domain/observe/snapshot.ts
index 84fc17a..d6f9209 100644
--- a/src/domain/observe/snapshot.ts
+++ b/src/domain/observe/snapshot.ts
@@ -28,6 +28,19 @@ export interface ServerSnapshot {
   apps: AppSnapshot[];
   /** Whole-server failure — unreachable, timed out, script produced nothing. */
   error?: string;
+  /**
+   * The apps this server is configured to run. Set only on a failed poll: a
+   * server that reports nothing cannot say which apps it should have run, but
+   * the caller that asked for the poll knows, and the fleet view needs it to
+   * blame the failure on those apps and no others.
+   */
+  plannedApps?: PlannedApp[];
+}
+
+/** An app a server is configured to run, as known without reaching the server. */
+export interface PlannedApp {
+  app: string;
+  appType: 'backend' | 'frontend';
 }
 
 /** The app-scoped slice of one server's poll. */
diff --git a/tests/unit/observe-collector.test.ts b/tests/unit/observe-collector.test.ts
index 5b7f75c..5f9e6d8 100644
--- a/tests/unit/observe-collector.test.ts
+++ b/tests/unit/observe-collector.test.ts
@@ -150,6 +150,23 @@ describe('MetricsCollector', () => {
     expect(snapshot.server).toBe('b');
   });
 
+  it('records which apps a failed poll was meant to cover', async () => {
+    const executor = new (class extends FakeRemoteExecutor {
+      override async exec(): Promise<never> {
+        throw new Error('connect ETIMEDOUT');
+      }
+    })();
+    const planned = config.apps.map((a) => ({ app: a.name, appType: a.appType }));
+
+    const timedOut = await new MetricsCollector(executor, 'b', config).collect({ apps: config.apps });
+    const empty = await new MetricsCollector(
+      new FakeRemoteExecutor().when(() => true, { stdout: '', stderr: '', exitCode: 0 }), 'c', config,
+    ).collect({ apps: config.apps });
+
+    expect(timedOut.plannedApps).toEqual(planned);
+    expect(empty.plannedApps).toEqual(planned);
+  });
+
   it('reports empty output as an error rather than an empty snapshot', async () => {
     const executor = new FakeRemoteExecutor().when(() => true, { stdout: '', stderr: '', exitCode: 0 });
     const snapshot = await new MetricsCollector(executor, 'c', config).collect({ apps: config.apps });
diff --git a/tests/unit/observe-pivot.test.ts b/tests/unit/observe-pivot.test.ts
index 95f9e91..6018eb0 100644
--- a/tests/unit/observe-pivot.test.ts
+++ b/tests/unit/observe-pivot.test.ts
@@ -94,6 +94,52 @@ describe('pivotByApp', () => {
     expect(views).toEqual([]);
   });
 
+  it('blames a failed server only on the apps planned for it', () => {
+    // `web` runs on a alone; `api` runs on a and b. b failing says nothing
+    // about `web`, which must not turn into a fleet with a missing replica.
+    const views = pivotByApp([
+      server('a', [app('web', '1'), app('api', '1')]),
+      server('b', [], { error: 'down', plannedApps: [{ app: 'api', appType: 'backend' }] }),
+    ]);
+
+    expect(views.find((v) => v.app === 'web')?.unreachable).toEqual([]);
+    expect(views.find((v) => v.app === 'api')?.unreachable).toEqual(['b']);
+  });
+
+  it('ignores a failed server that only hosts accessories', () => {
+    const views = pivotByApp([
+      server('a', [app('api', '1')]),
+      server('data', [], { error: 'down', plannedApps: [] }),
+    ]);
+
+    expect(views[0].unreachable).toEqual([]);
+  });
+
+  it('still shows an app whose every server failed', () => {
+    const views = pivotByApp([
+      server('a', [app('web', '1')]),
+      server('b', [], { error: 'down', plannedApps: [{ app: 'site', appType: 'frontend' }] }),
+      server('c', [], { error: 'down', plannedApps: [{ app: 'site', appType: 'frontend' }] }),
+    ]);
+
+    const site = views.find((v) => v.app === 'site');
+    expect(site).toBeDefined();
+    expect(site?.replicas).toEqual([]);
+    expect(site?.unreachable).toEqual(['b', 'c']);
+    expect(site?.appType).toBe('frontend');
+  });
+
+  it('lists reachable replicas and unreachable servers of the same app together', () => {
+    const views = pivotByApp([
+      server('a', [app('api', '1')]),
+      server('b', [], { error: 'down', plannedApps: [{ app: 'api', appType: 'backend' }] }),
+    ]);
+
+    expect(views).toHaveLength(1);
+    expect(views[0].replicas.map((r) => r.server)).toEqual(['a']);
+    expect(views[0].unreachable).toEqual(['b']);
+  });
+
   it('keeps a per-app error visible on the replica', () => {
     const views = pivotByApp([
       server('a', [app('api', '1', { error: 'PM2 command failed' })]),